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Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry milk?

Hi ladies

Thanks again for all your replies in this forum. I never thought I would make it to pass the 6 mo mark... DD is almost 10mo!!!

Anyway, DD has been sick this week, pink eye/congestion and this morning I woke up with sore throat and a lot of sinus pressure. I'm thinking is allergies because of all the crazy pollen out there now!
I've been feeling not very well through the day and I was wondering if there is anything at all I could take to at least calm the sinus pressure or the sore throat. (and cogestion for that matter...)

I gave my little girl some benadryl (per Dr's advice) to try to help the congestion at night. But one of my sisters in law told me to ABSOLUTELY not take benadryl cause it'll dry out my milk. She BF'd for about 6 months, I think...

Has anyone taken Benadryl or any other allergy medicine, congestion medicine, cold medicine, etc, etc while breastfeeding? What's safe to take and won't affect supply?

Re: Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry mi

Basically, you want to avoid pseudoephedrine, because it can have an impact on supply. I read an article once about how it can be used in extreme oversupply cases.

I've had a couple colds this fall/winter, and I've always found that taking lots of vitamin C and Echinacea are helpful, but I'm not sure if you'd have the same luck with allergies. I've also taken the odd Claritin when I couldn't stand it any longer, and I didn't have any drop in supply. Claritin is listed as being one of the safest things to take.

Re: Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry mi

Hi mama, I took claritin at one point and had a big supply drop, so I second your SIL's advice to avoid anti-histamines (benadryl, claritin, allegra, doxylamine - which is in Nyquil - and the like). Tylenol or motrin/advil are safe to take and won't affect supply, and can help with the sore throat and sinus pressure (actually, I have a sore throat myself, and am taking ibuprofen (motrin/advil) to deal with it). Decongestants like pseudoephedrine (sudafed) and phenylephrine (mucinex and others) can also decrease supply, so I would avoid those. Hope you feel better soon! My whole family has had one cold after another, it's been never-ending this winter, and LO woke up with a fever too this morning...

Re: Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry mi

I recently was sick, and always have horrid sinus problems as it is, so I could not breathe at all when this cold came on. I gave in and took Sudafed one night and it barely helped. The next day I tried something I had used during a bad cold while pregnant, and it worked BETTER than the Sudafed -- but be prepared, because it's potent and gross. Every few hours I was alternating between small shots of apple cider vinegar and making a tea of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and honey (sometimes ginger, too). My husband kept whining every time I'd make the tea because it would stink up the house. I also used a neti pot, which helped, as well. You have to drink it a lot, but it really does seem to help -- one smell and you'll know why!

Mom to my sweet little "Pooper," born 10/12/11, and "Baby Brother," born 6/23/2014, and married to heavy metal husband. Working more than full-time, making healthy vegetarian meals for family, and trying to keep up with exercise routine.

Re: Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry mi

I second the apple cidar vinegar. I often put a tablespoon of ACV and a big glob of honey in a cup of warm water to combat a cold. The ACV is good for opening up the sinuses and the honey soothes a sore throat. I also do nasal irrigation, which helps get allergens out of the nose. I prefer the squirt bottle type rather than the neti pot. You can pick one up at most drug stores.

I took zyrtec when things got really bad and it didn't hurt my supply, but I am someone who had a tendency for oversupply, so probably not a good data point. I was told that zyrtec was safer than allegra while pregnant, so I figured it was fine while BFing and didn't even consider the milk supply thing.

Re: Cold/Allergies-What's safe/won't affect supply or dry mi

Thanks ladies!
Still with sore throat congestion and my body aches but I still have mommy duty 24hrs... I started taking echinacea and that seemed to help a little, I'm not feeling super sick like I did earlier. Also got me some black tea and I'm making it super strong and then mixing honey and lemon in there, man that helped my throat last night. I saw a bunch of "sore throat" teas over the organic section and I was tempted to get some, but I've read some teas can also cause supply drop or affect vitamin/minerals absorption... So I didn't. I may look in more detail later to see what's about.

I think whatever I got, my DD got it first and that caused her pink eye... I hope the BM gives her some boost to fight whatever bug we got!

I'll try the Apple cider vinegar thing... If I'm feeling the same tomorrow.